[Note: The numbers in the following table are the page
numbers in the text version. I decided to leave them here to
facilitate citations. Why I didn't think of that for previous
issues I don't know-rs]

There is frequent discussion on and off the
net regarding regional difference in cave use and caver profiles
within the United States. As I recently agreed to babysit the
Cave Registry Program while John Wilson serves as Administrative
Vice President of the NSS, I thought it would be an interesting
exercise to compare some variables for a few caves in the
database.

I would first like to give some background
information about the program. John Wilson began the program in
1974 and has dedicated himself to it for the past 20 years. The
database exists because volunteers mailed in requests for
register books, and followed through by placing the books in PVC
containers made to order by other volunteers. The containers were
carried into the caves, checked periodically, and replaced when
full. Data was entered into computer files by yet other
volunteers, using a program (CCUS, versions 1 & 2) which was
written by Tim Kilby and generously donated so that it could be
made available free of charge to anyone who wanted to enter,
maintain, or analyze data. The project has been supported by
grants from the Cave Conservation and Management Section of the
NSS and The Virginia Region, as well as The Robertson
Association, the American Cave Conservation Association, the
Southeastern Region the Northwest Caving Association, the NSS and
many other contributors.

I looked at a total of six caves, three from
the TAG area and three from the Northeast. The TAG caves are
Natural Well, Howard's Waterfall, and Cemetery Pit, and the
Northeast caves are Knox, McFail's, and J4. Natural Well is a
186' pit bounce, usually the first or second vertical cave for
Huntsville cavers; Howard's Waterfall is an easy horizontal cave,
and Cemetery Pit combines a vertical drop with extended
horizontal passages. Knox, in upstate New York, is an easy
horizontal cave except for the notorious Gunbarrel, which is
between the entrance and the register; J4 is a more challenging
horizontal cave in State College, Pennsylvania, and McFail's,
near Knox, has a vertical drop of about 75' (which is deep by New
York standards) and miles of cold, wet passage, some of which
must be negotiated to reach the register.

Original material is copyright by the Human Science
Section. Permission to reprint material appearing in People
Underground is granted to all internal organizations
of the NSS provided credit is given to the author and People
Underground and a copy of the publication is sent to
the editor. The opinions expressed in articles appearing
in People Underground are not necessarily the
opinions of the Human Science Section or the NSS.

Printed by members of the D.C. Grotto
and the Potomac Speleological Society.

The Human Sciences Section (formerly
the Social Science Section) was chartered in 1974 and has
struggled to stay together since that time. The Section
holds its annual meeting at the NSS Convention, usually
scheduled as an informal luncheon. The Section welcomes
all individuals who are interested in the human sciences.
At this time the Section plans to publish newsletters
semi-annually. People Underground is sent to all
members of the Human Science Section. Membership dues are
$5 per year and may be sent to the Treasurer's address,
given below. For your convenience, a membership form is
included on the back cover, page 23.

SUBMISSIONS: Articles and other People
Underground correspondence should be sent to the
Editor. Submissions on computer disks should be made with
3-1/2" or 5-1/4"IBM compatible diskettes.
Microsoft Word 5.x or Word for Windows, Word Perfect 5.0
or higher, or straight ASCII format is preferred. Do not
format materials for multiple columns! Diskettes will not
be returned unless requested. Arrangements may be made
for transmission via modem; call or write the Editor for
details. Or send an E-Mail message, or your article, to
the Editor via the Internet: rstitt@wingedseed.com.

I hope to do a study involving the purpose of
the cave trip and its duration in the near future; for the
moment, I concentrated on the seasonal use of the cave, the
percentage of NSS members, ratio of female/male cavers for NSS
and non-NSS populations, age of NSS and non-NSS cavers, and the
prevalence of carbide. I would greatly appreciate any feedback
regarding query topics. The results are:

McFail's Cave-Canadians %NSS=45 23 entries

NSS MEMBERS

NON-NSS MEMBERS

CARBIDE

<age>

% female

% carbide

<age>

% female

% carbide

<age>

35

0

100

20.7

50

100

27

McFail's Cave-Americans %NSS=80 11 entries

NSS MEMBERS

NON-NSS MEMBERS

CARBIDE

<age>

% female

% carbide

<age>

% female

% carbide

<age>

31

0

75

22.3

0

70

31

J4 %NSS=12.3 292 entries

NSS MEMBERS

NON-NSS MEMBERS

CARBIDE

<age>

% female

% carbide

<age>

% female

% carbide

<age>

25

7

56

21

19

29

23.8

J-4 Dome Room %NSS=23 204 entries

NSS MEMBERS

NON-NSS MEMBERS

CARBIDE

<age>

% female

% carbide

<age>

% female

% carbide

<age>

29.1

13

51

20.4

14

30

23.8

Knox Cave %NSS=7.3 110 entries

NSS MEMBERS

NON-NSS MEMBERS

CARBIDE

<age>

% female

% carbide

<age>

% female

% carbide

<age>

29.5

37

50

22.4

31

87

21.6

Cemetery Pit %NSS=24.2 132 entries

NSS MEMBERS

NON-NSS MEMBERS

CARBIDE

<age>

% female

% carbide

<age>

% female

% carbide

<age>

31.2

18.8

50

24.6

12.76

25

25.3

Howard's Waterfall %NSS=22 150 entries

NSS MEMBERS

NON-NSS MEMBERS

CARBIDE

<age>

% female

% carbide

<age>

% female

% carbide

<age>

34

17.6

32

25.9

>24*

9.4

35.8

*Girl scout troop was logged as a single entry

Natural Well, Alabama %NSS=31 139 entries

NSS MEMBERS

NON-NSS MEMBERS

CARBIDE

<age>

% female

% carbide

<age>

% female

% carbide

<age>

------

16.3

0

12.5

0

-----------

Use of the caves by month is broken down in the following
table:

Seasonal Use:

Cave Name

J

F

M

A

M

J

J

A

S

O

N

D

McFail's

29

5

J-4

77

38

28

1

17

29

---

---

---

1

69

11

J-4 Dome Room

---

24

19

6

11

---

4

21

17

28

9

Knox

99

11

Natural Well

10

13

7

8

16

10

9

11

7

12

15

7

Howard's Waterfall

25

10

12

33

9

8

45

Cemetery Pit

22

10

17

25

1

9

11

27

Discussion:

In each case, the average age of NSS cavers is
several years greater than that of non-NSS cavers. This suggests
that several years of caving elapse before joining the NSS; also
that NSS members do not leave the NSS while they are still caving
actively. The highest percentage of NSS members was found at
McFail's, both for American (80%) and Canadian (45%) cavers; this
probably reflects the level of experience needed to reach the
register. A very distant second was Natural Well (31%). Although
this would seem disappointing for a cave in Huntsville, Natural
Well is still a beginner cave, although vertical. The extremely
low percentage of NSS membership among Knox cavers results from
Knox's popularity amongst outing groups where one leader will
take in a group of ten to twenty novices. This is also the
explanation of the high percentage of female visitors to the
cave.

Except for Knox cave, and among the Canadians
at McFail's, the participation of female cavers is lower in these
caves than the 20% figure generally given. Carbide use persists,
and the average age of the carbide user is slightly higher than
that of the average age of the non-NSS caver (except at Knox,
where the outing groups supply carbide cap lamps to their
college-age members) which suggests that carbide use peaks after
a year or two of caving. Still, about half of the NSS members
report using carbide as their main source of light. Carbide use
varies widely among the non-NSS cavers.

As for the monthly use chart, McFail's is
closed in the winter; J4 has been known to flood in April. Knox
is also closed in the winter, but the register was probably not
in place during the spring. Natural Well sees steady year-round
usage, with a slight peak for SERA. The Howard's Waterfall
register was not in place for a full year, nor was Cemetery
Pit's, but the high numbers for December and January are a
surprise.

The database files from the CCUS program were
imported easily into tables constructed in Word Perfect 6. It is
important to scan the data. For example, on the McFail's list,
there was a trip recorded on 2/9...when the cave is closed!
However, noting that the members of this trip were French
Canadian, and that a number of Canadians had signed in
immediately afterwards on 9/2, it was easy to correct for the
European date notation. Also, I would caution anyone applying
statistical formulae to the data lists to make sure that
variables like age or hours in cave are excluded if zero.

Many interesting questions remain to be asked
and hopefully answered using CCUS questionnaires and data.
However, the survey program has grown to the point where we can
no longer rely on volunteers to process the data at a central
location. The number of actual entries per register varies, but
is generally less than one hundred per year. Thus data entry
would not be difficult for each local grotto. CCUS receives 20-30
registers per year and volunteers (and there are few enough of
these) are more anxious to enter data from their own area than
from an area where they themselves don't cave. The idea of
centralized data entry started when postage was cheap and
computers were expensive and rare. This has now reversed. Sending
registers through the mail is both risky and costly.

It may also be time to redesign the register
forms. A survey of active CCUS participants elicited more than a
few comments about the length and detail of the forms. I would
like to propose a change such that one person from each group
would sign for the group-related information (like the purpose of
the trip, time in cave, how found, etc.) and the others sign
beneath only their names, age, sex, NSS status and caving
experience. More input on this subject would be most welcome.

The register program is the only means we have
to measure quantitatively the impact of human use of caves.
Register information can be correlated with biological studies,
as is being done in California, to help preserve the bat
population. In addition, the register program helps to satisfy
the desire of many cavers to leave some record of their passage
in the cave. Volunteers are always needed to place and maintain
registers, and to record data. New ideas are also warmly welcome.
Although I will be leaving for the mid-East in January, and so
will be unable to continue as chairman, I hope that this article
will stimulate interest and discussion, and perhaps even find a
volunteer or two.

1. Minutes of the previous meeting,
held June 23, 1994, in Texas, were reviewed and accepted.

2. Finances Rob Stitt, treasurer,
reported $401.28 on hand. There had been shuffling of bank
accounts by the banking system and he mentioned that he has not
found a banking facility open on Saturdays and nearer his
residence. The Executive Committee was authorized to take any
necessary action to provide forms that may be required by the
bank to formalize the transfer.

3. Demographic Study It was announced
that the demographic survey of the NSS membership has been
completed and a report made to NSS via the NSS News. The data are
available for the use of anyone who is interested in other
studies involving the membership.

4. Brochure The status of a brochure
about the Section was unclear and Evelyn Bradshaw promised to
check on this. {Secretary's note: The previous brochure was
readily located in the file; it had been completed before the
Section's name change and did not mention the demographic study
as a project. An updated brochure in draft form is being
circulated with these draft minutes.]

5. NSS Bulletin Questions about the
future of the NSS Bulletin should be settled at the meeting of
the Board of Governors this Friday.

6. Section Purpose and Activities We
hope for a full-length paper session at the 1996 Colorado
convention. A call for papers will be issued early. Reports on
ongoing research are solicited. It was noted in connection with
the Map Salon and the Survey and Cartography Section and judging
criteria that there was no real group consensus as to what a map
is. Are we judging the map itself or the software used to create
one kind of map? People see this differently.

7. People Issues The question was
raised as to how much residual discrimination against women still
persists, as, for example, remarks that pass for humor in grotto
newsletters but which demean women. Awareness of the
unacceptability of this kind of attitude needs to be raised.

A good subject for research is the role of
young adults in the Society and how to retain their membership
and involvement. How long on the average do they stay in? Why?

Another project that some of us would like to
see is that of scheduling events at NSS conventions to minimize
to a greater extent than at present conflicts. It was suggested
that there are computer programs that could be adapted to
facilitate this project. Comments from attendees of this and
previous conventions might help in fashioning such a computer
program.

Dave Lemberg and Dr. Daniel Montello,
Department of Geography, University of California at Santa
Barbara

Throughout history, humans have exhibited a
deep-seated fear of being lost, especially in the dark. You can
look at literary examples from Theseus in the Labyrinth to Tom
Sawyer and Indian Joe; in the popular tradition, without aid
(thread or string) you are likely to become lost and die a
gruesome death of thirst or hunger in the darkness (or worse).
But what of reality for those frequent visitors of darkened
labyrinths? Are most cavers afraid of getting lost? Do cavers
really have major difficulties wayfinding in caves? How is
wayfinding in caves different from wayfinding on the surface?

In reality, losing your way in cave is a
danger, but not nearly so much of a serious hazard as
hypothermia, climbing hazard, rockfall hazard, and water hazard.
"Lost cavers" are a significant proportion of the total
incidents listed in American Caving Accidents, but are
rarely listed among the serious incidents. Techniques books on
caving and cave rescue spend some time on getting lost and
searching for lost cavers, but little space is given to
wayfinding and wayfinding training. Why is this? Is wayfinding in
caves simply following a short set of rules or have we just not
thought much about it? Dave McClurg in Adventure of Caving
describes three levels of lost: off route, momentarily confused,
and totally lost. To hear cavers tell it, totally lost is just a
longer state of momentarily confused. A study of how you might be
"turned around", totally lost, or temporarily confused
for a couple of hours, should be valuable for those interested in
caver training, cave safety, cave rescue, and those interested in
wayfinding in general.

This article is part of a larger study of
wayfinding in caves by Dr. Daniel Montello and Dave Lemberg of
the Department of Geography at the University of California at
Santa Barbara. Part of the study involves the use of a standard
survey on "Getting Lost", modified for caving, that has
been administered at large caving functions. The data from these
86 surveys has recently been coded and analysis of these data
will be reported in a future issue. This paper is the result of
an orientation exercise by the investigators which combined
familiarizing a non-caving environmental psychologist/geographer
with caving and cavers, and allowing the researchers to do
unstructured interviews with a group of experienced cavers. The
exercise involved conducting interviews with cavers in the
relaxed atmosphere of an expedition base camp over the Memorial
Day Weekend in 1994.

Five cavers were interviewed. The group
included three men and two women, ranging in age between 29 and
50. All of the group were experienced cavers, having been active
in the sport from 2 to 26 years. All of the group had been caving
more than 100 times; some of them closer to 1000 times. The
interviews consisted of a list of questions designed to draw out
cavers on wayfinding, cave mapping, and general caving practices
and attitudes. The questions were not posed in any standard
order, but generally grouped into related categories (i.e.
wayfinding and navigation, mapping and map reading, etc.). Tape
recordings of the interviews were then transcribed to text. The
questions and responses from these transcripts are summarized
below. In Part I of this paper, the emphasis will be on
wayfinding and orientation. Part II of the paper will emphasize
the group dynamics of wayfinding in caves, route descriptions,
and map reading problems.

Wayfinding and orienting in caves involve many
different techniques and skills. There were some wayfinding
techniques common to all of those interviewed. The one rule that
all of the cavers stated for successful wayfinding was the
"look back" rule: to look back to recognize the cave
passage and route from the reverse perspective which the caver
would be using on the return trip. Another technique common to
all of the cavers was to note locations as waypoints. These
waypoints included recognizable landmarks such as formations or
breakdown, and visible places or patterns such as rooms, crawls,
climbs, passages, etc.

Humans have evolved the natural ability to
visually discern and integrate patterns and contrasts in our
environment. In wayfinding, we tend to construct our paths using
recognizable landmarks. Cavers tend to focus on the visual
characteristics of the cave and on the physical characteristics
of movement through the cave. Visual cues include outstanding
formations with unusual colors and shapes. Pretty things and ugly
things, formations that stand out from the background. Formations
that resemble familiar objects make good wayfinding cues. Cavers
(and others) often create names for such features either formally
for all to see on the map, or mentally to themselves. Such
explicit verbal labeling is a helps to tie the unfamiliar
environment of the cave to more familiar mental references,
making it easier to remember and identify in future encounters.
Where the passage is featureless, sometimes the cavers create
their own visual cues with stone cairns or mud sculptures. One
caver interviewed cited an instance where a room was recognized
by an etching of Bullwinkle the Moose! The caver also tends to
store types of moves as cues to location. Stressful moves such as
climbs and squeezes are popular (as cues). So are annoying or
tiring moves such as crawling and duck-unders.

Landmarks and passages features make good
wayfinding cues in general because cave features do not usually
vary over time. Caves change quickly in geologic time but rather
slowly in human time. There are some seasonal changes that may be
tied to rainfall levels - water levels and silt build-up. There
may also be more catastrophic changes due to major flooding or
sinkhole collapse, but these are rare. The other changes to be
considered are human changes. While we are supposed to "take
nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints", in
reality we have some minor impacts on the cave on each trip.
Formations may be accidentally dirtied of broken, trails cut into
the mud, rock or mud markers created, destroyed, or moved.

Another common technique in wayfinding is to
tie these visual cues (landmarks) and body movements (climbs,
crawls, etc.) together - "I know that the climb-up is just
beyond where you start crawling". To some cavers, following
a route is a matter of combining strings of landmarks, moves, and
procedures; going from formation to climb to junction to crawl,
to arrive at specific destinations. These techniques are used by
all cavers. More advanced cavers such as explorers and mappers
use their knowledge of cave structure to "learn" the
cave. As the caver proceeds through the cave, he or she notes the
changes and trends of the passages. What sorts of passage are
they moving through - vadose, phreatic, borehole, bedding plane,
breakdown, etc.? How and where does the passage change? In what
direction do the air and water flow? What evidence of human
traffic (footprints, mud smears, survey stations, cairns, etc.)
does the cave exhibit? Cavers using these observation techniques
build an "intelligence" of the cave that allows one to
not only follow and remember the existing route, but also
extrapolate the trends and directions of the cave passage,
recognizing levels and regions as they progress through the cave
system.

For the beginner or for the most advanced and
experienced explorer, the underground environment presents
special difficulties for the wayfinder. On the surface, most of
our wayfinding is done in two dimensions. In caves, we are faced
with a three dimensional wayfinding task which can be very
confusing. Adding to this confusion is the complexity of the cave
structure. Caves are often described as being
"maze-like", meaning that they have many branching
passages, changes of direction (right, left, up, down, and
various oblique angles), and changes in structure (breakdown,
crawls, pits, etc.) and appearance (color, shape, consistency,
etc.). The perspective of the wayfinder changes as he or she
looks in different directions. The way in does not look like the
way out (hence the need for the "look back rule"). All
of these properties are confusing - much more so than a standard
garden labyrinth or maze puzzle on paper.

It is also difficult to orient in cave
systems. The actual structure of the cave passages does not match
our intuition of the passages. Much of our world is rectilinearly
oriented, especially in the built environment. Underground, this
is not the case. The passages are generally not rectilinear, and
may curve in any direction. The combination of twisting passages,
darkness, and shadows results in reduced perspective. The
darkness itself may be quite disorienting to some. The horizon or
field of view may be very close (restricted vistas). We often can
not see the entire passage at once - we can only see what is in
the line of sight of our headlamps. Indeed the combination of
various headlamps focusing in different directions and at
different intensities of light can present a very confusing
tableau. Distance measurement and estimation becomes distorted.
The restricted line-of-sight in caves limits our ability to
estimate distance. Distance may be estimated as a function of the
time and/or effort required to get from one place to another.
Another disorienting aspect of caving is the task of moving
through the three-dimensional space of the cave system. Moving
through a cave, one must simultaneously orient both vertically
and horizontally. The way out is generally up (or occasionally
down) rather than just backward.

The cues for orientation underground are also
different than those on the surface. There are no sky cues - no
sun, no moon, no stars. Shadows are not a directional cue as they
are on the surface. The lack of general surface cues such as
horizons and the sun creates distortions in the perception of
time and distance underground. Without a sky (and usually without
a watch) there is no external reference to the passage of time.
Time may be measured in terms of the rhythms of caving. Such
rhythms include carbide or battery changes and the cycle of
brightness of the headlamps. Low light levels at the end of the
carbide charge or battery life may also distort distance. In low
light levels, features become fuzzy, shadows less distinct, and
even scanning distance lessens. Time may be measured in terms of
bodily functions - hunger, thirst, cold, stress, and fatigue. In
extreme conditions, these bodily stresses may distort time
perception in themselves. According to some of the cavers
interviewed, the greater the level of fatigue, the greater the
perceived distance and time. Time measurement may also be a
function of actions or travel. Time and distance are to some
extent interchangeable so that one may say that a destination is
2500 feet in or they may say that the same destination may be one
hour in. Travel speed and effort will affect time and distance
perception. What is one hour in for one group of cavers may be a
half hour to another group, and two hours to a third. Time
perception for a group of cavers may well be a function of the
slowest caver in the group. Indeed, a slow caver may very well
disrupt the time perception of an experienced caver who would
normally traverse a route much faster normally.

Other difficulties stem from the way the party
goes through the cave. There are different speeds and styles of
caving. Often the leader wants to get to a specific destination
quickly for surveying, sightseeing, photography, etc. The type of
trip may determine how much the caver learns about the cave.
Surveyors and photographers may come out of the cave with
detailed observations that will synthesize into a comprehensive
knowledge of the route. A fast "tourist trip" or an
"in-and-out" scientific collection trip does not
generally allow the caver the leisure to built wayfinding
knowledge. The party quickly moves through the cave at the
leader's pace, too quickly for the other members to do the sort
of observation required to build route knowledge. At this pace,
the other members of the group may become passive followers,
unable to find their way out without the leader's assistance.
Depending on the person's position in the line, there may be
perspective problems. It is difficult to concentrate on learning
the details of the passage if your perspective is dominated or
blocked by the boots, back, helmet, or rear-end of the person in
front of you.

There are also special problems involved in
finding cave entrances and finding one's way back to the vehicle
or base camp. One major problem is finding the cave entrance. The
entrance may be hidden by vegetation, by rugged terrain, by other
similar looking holes or pits, etc. There are few distinguishing
features on karst landscapes. Often the printed or oral
directions are hard to follow (maps seem to be easier to follow
than oral directions), inaccurate, or distorted (more on this
later). Distances may be wrong. The "big tree on the
hillside" may look no different from all of the other trees
on the mountain. There may be seasonal changes in the landscape -
a clear view through the trees in the winter may disappear with
the summer foliage. Weather conditions such as rain or fog may
obscure views. Darkness is a problem, especially on return trips
from the cave.

When one leaves a cave, there may be many
problems with finding one's way back. Navigating on the surface
in darkness creates many of the same problems as in cave
navigation. The features and landmarks of the route look
different in the opposite direction. The problem is compounded by
the fact that one may have traversed the path in daylight.
Obvious features in the daylight may not stand out in the beam of
a headlight. Distant landmarks used for wayfinding in the
daylight may not be visible at all after dark. Add to the problem
that one is likely to be fatigued and dehydrated after a long day
of caving, and one has the recipe for confusion and
disorientation.

One of the cavers interviewed told a story of
coming out of a cave in Mexico. Not only was it dark, but the
ground was covered in a thick fog. The party became confused over
which direction led back to the village. Some thought it was one
direction, some thought it was another direction, and others were
not sure of any direction. They were on a ridge and normally
could have seen lights, but with the fog and the darkness, there
were no visual cues. Then one of the party remembered that there
were a lot of dogs in the village. They said, "we'll just
yell really loud . The dogs will all bark, and we'll know that's
the way to go". So they did, and it worked.

This Letter to the Editor of the High
Country News, 3/20/95, was copied in the Oregon Grotto's May
1995 Speleograph:

Dear HCN,

Last summer I spent several days in Salmon,
Idaho, as part of my research on the human dimensions of
ecosystem management. I expected to hear the same sort of
petulant threat-mongering that Jon Margolis mocked--something
I've heard increasingly often in my years of listening to the
voices of the rural West (HCN, 2/20/95).

Instead I found a community where it was still
thought proper to be polite to strangers bearing notebooks.
Salmon was a working town where mining and logging were honorable
occupations, but where folks also were proud of the contribution
that river rafting makes to the local economy. It was a place
where the Forest Service and BLM were said to be part of the
solution as well as part of the problem. . . a place where
conservative Mormon farmers and ranchers set up a phone tree so
they could quickly turn off the irrigation pumps when a salmon or
two were seen waiting to head up the Lemhi River to spawn.

I'd hoped to be able to do a follow-up study
this summer to try to discover what made Lemhi County different.
Why was it still possible in Salmon--but not in Joseph or
Kalispell or Republic or Silver City--for there to be civil
discourse between people who care equally about the land but want
such different things from it?

Now I can forget that idea. Folks in Salmon
are polishing their six-guns just like their counterparts across
the West--thanks to the Wilderness Society, Pacific Rivers
Council, and the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund lawsuit that
would block all grazing, logging and mining on the national
forests of central Idaho. I suppose it's easy when you're in an
office in Portland or San Francisco to forget that living,
breathing people are part of the landscape of the West. It may be
easy, but it's also disastrous. This sort of one-size-fits-all
approach to environmentalism, imposed from outside by people who
wield their legal hatchets simply because they know they can,
will harm the environmentalist cause just as surely as any dam.

If we lose the Endangered Species Act and
other environmental laws in the 104th Congress, it won't be
because the bad guys got elected at precisely the wrong time.
It'll be because the good guys tried to kill a gnat with a meat
cleaver, and in the process managed to slice their own jugulars.

Mark Brunson

Logan, Utah

The writer is an assistant professor of forest
resources at Utah State University and a former Montana
journalist.

The following article by Lou Simpson in the
Nov. 1995 Electric Caver, by the Greater Cincinnati
Grotto, was intended by its author simply to be a humorous essay.
However, what about some articles of a more serious vein
addressing the topic of the aging caver? Some readers may want to
take exception to some of the conclusions stated by Simpson. With
all the double entendres, we may have to start sending out
People Underground in a brown wrapper?

During their late teens and early twenties,
men reach their peak caving performance, with a steady decline
thereafter, while women just get better and better. Young female
cavers may find young men exhausting to cave with, and often get
left behind, unsatisfied. But as both male and female cavers age,
their drives for caving become more compatible and their
relationship actually benefits from it. "The emphasis is on
quality now, not quantity," said a quintenarian male cave
friend of mine. "We don't do it as often these days, but
when we do, it's very gratifying!" Young cavers who kept at
it all night now find themselves, at 40 or 50, opting for
shallower penetration and less hard-core activity, but actually
find themselves liking it more. "I used to be sore after
caving with my husband," our friend's caver wife told us,
"but now he and I are more in tune, moving in a gentler
rhythm, enjoying going down together more than ever before."

Our friends, once they overcame their
embarrassment about this sensitive subject, talked on into the
nigh, well, 10:30, about their rejuvenated love for caving
together in their twilight years. "My husband used to be a
caving stud," said Joyce (not her real name). "He would
be down on his hands and knees for hours. It really wore me
out." "Now we find that we like it better standing
up," said Bob (not his real name either). "Doing it
horizontally all the time really got old. People really ought to
find out about more positions than just the one," he
continued. "After half a lifetime of dirty enjoyment, we
found some interesting variations that have really turned us on.
We find that doing it with #^*@'#* or using really neat equipment
enhances the experience, said Bob. "We really like using
ropes and harnesses, but sometimes we get tied up at the
fieldhouse." Joyce added, "Well, I really like the
photography. I get really turned on when I look at the pictures
of us all down there together squirming in the mud." My wife
Sheryl tells people, "Since Lou's two experiences with
flooding, he's been a lot more careful. And he takes better care
of his equipment. He used to just let it hang until it dried out,
then beat it against the side of the house to get the dust
off." I do find that it takes me longer to recover than it
once did. "Yesh," Sheryl equipped, "he does his
best to keep up with those young cave babes, but then he comes
home to me cut and bleeding and licking his wounds. "So,
what's in store for us in the future? Ever since my wife heard of
Climax Cave, she's been saying, "You've never taken me to
Climax. I hear it's really neat." So I guess I'll have to
find out how to reach it. I may have been there once long ago,
but I was by myself and I blacked out.

In an article titled "Caving for
Conservation," John Gookin, Curriculum Manager for the
National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), sets the record
straight on certain assertions made by Warren Anderson about
NOLS.

Warren Anderson's letter (Rocky Mountain
Caving, Autumn 1994) regarding "caving for pay"
points out valid issues such as safety, conservation, and access
that are of vital importance to all cavers. However, his
assertions of federal land management agencies corrupted by
unscrupulous outfitters and other wild claims does a disservice
to the issues at hand and to caving in general. The intention of
this article is to correct the misrepresentation of the National
Outdoor Leadership School's (NOLS) caving program and point the
debate in a more constructive direction.

Anderson asserts that "commercial
outfitting in caves will never be safe." This is true to the
extent that no activity with inherent risks is ever safe. Indeed,
any educational program hoping to teach judgment MUST have
genuine risks. How risky is caving compared to other activities?
No database of comprehensive caving use and accident information
exists. While the NSS does an admirable job of publishing the
highly educational American Caving Accidents, we cavers
are still a long way from having statistically significant
information. Until we cavers gather objective baseline data,
Anderson's contention that educational caving is unsafe remains
moot.

I appreciate Anderson's description of NOLS as
"arguably the most responsible commercial outfitter in
America." But when he mentions numerous searches and rescues
and a group size that is woefully exaggerated, I feel it is
important to set the record straight. NOLS's caving safety record
is excellent. We have had one search and no agency rescues in 25
years. We did use a SKED to haul out a student with a sprained
knee once, and with their own rescue cache. While we are suitably
concerned about the famous Rachel Cox search in Wind Cave
National Park, we are also proud of how we handled our
responsibilities and the in-depth analysis that followed. Our
wilderness education safety statistics were the first of their
kind to be studied by an independent researcher and published in
the medical literature. Data gathered by insurance companies, the
National Speleological Society (NSS), and the Association for
Experiential Education clearly show our record to be exceptional.

We have never caved in groups of 30. NOLS'
caving courses currently have an average of 11 students and three
instructors. Anderson's high number of 30 may have been taken
from past permits which allowed that number, but our courses are
half that size in the campground, and far less underground. In
fact, it is uncommon to find a NOLS course with more than 12
student.

Anderson mentions that organizations such as
NOLS need to enroll "anybody who will pay." This
statement, which seems to be the crux of Anderson's argument,
clearly demonstrates a lack of understanding of how organizations
like NOLS operate. As an educational institution we could not
exist for long if we simply allowed anyone on our courses,
regardless of their motivation, medical condition, or other
constraints. Instead, over the years we have steadily increased
the sophistication of our student screening. Coupled with our
attention to screening has been a deliberate effort to offer a
choice to students so they can decide if they want to cave or
not. This commitment to both proper screening and lowering the
profile of caving is a result of the constructive debate
regarding cave conservation facilitated by the NOLS.

Anderson mentions an "unnatural
relationship" with the Bureau of Land Management and undue
pull with the National Park Service. We are proud to be a
committed partner with the federal land management agencies. We
care about the lands on which we operate, and we participate--as
anyone is allowed and encouraged to do--in the land management
planning process. However, we have no special ability to affect
land management decisions and we certainly have not striven to
seek short-term expediencies for our program at the expense of
long-term conservation. Our involvement in planning processes is
consciously based on our commitments first to conservation and
second to education as an important and valid use of public land.
NOLS operates under the discretion of land managers and we
routinely adjust our use per their request. NOLS continually
abides by more stringent federal regulations than private cavers
do. We do not mind being held to a higher standard since we view
access by any organization as a privilege and not a right.

Anderson makes the legitimate statement that
non-cavers cause increased impact; this statement justifies caver
education programs. Educational use of caves can accomplish two
goals: first, to train cavers to be responsible in using the
resource (we cavers all started as beginners) and second, to
build the constituency for cave preservation. While the number of
cavers is important to regulate, we firmly believe that habits
count. Cavers with strong conservation ethics and proper skills
have less of an impact on cave resources than uncommitted cavers,
whatever their level of experience. Protective legislation like
the Endangered Species Act, the Wilderness Act, and the Federal
Cave Resources Protection Act are perpetually under attack and
thus the increasing need for a committed constituency to fight
for continuing these protections.

Schools like NOLS can contribute more to the
caving community than just our field course program. As a
non-profit educational institution, we feel a responsibility to
assist land managers in reaching others. As a partner in the
national "Leave No Trace" program, we developing a
public domain "Caving Skills and Ethics" booklet and a
training curriculum for federal land managers. The upcoming
Bureau of Land Management national cave brochure displays the
important work that can come from NOLS, the NSS and the BLM
working cooperatively.

We hope the caving community takes a hard look
at the many important "cave-for-pay" issues and
continues to examine safety, conservation. and access. Viewing
any issue this varied as black and white will never be fruitful.
Short-sighted condemnation of one group of users by another will
only distract us from the real issues and alienate people. The
big issues on the horizon are larger than any one faction of
wildland users can handle and we will work best if we work
together.

The National Outdoor Leadership School (NOS)
has been teaching responsible caving skills and ethics for 25
years, as an optional part of our semester program. Students
first successfully complete a month-long mountain section
(hiking, not caving) where they practice the intricacies of low
impact camping and environmental ethics. After the mountain
section they move on to three to four other skills areas, which
may include caving.

Our two-week caving progression begins with a
number of above ground classes and extensive practice to prepare
the students to enter caves with a sense of body awareness,
familiarity with their equipment, safety alertness, and knowledge
of the fragile cave environment. Obstacle courses emphasize
careful movement more than tight squeezes: we often use teetering
eggs as "formations." Initial caving trips are short,
allowing students to remain alert enough to focus on careful
technique. As student abilities improve, the trips increase in
length accordingly. Our staff incorporates daily conservation and
safety messages as awareness and mobility increase. Students are
supervised and are only on trips that match their abilities; a
student is never forced to go caving for the sake of caving. The
student to instructor ratio is less than 4:1.

NOLS consciously selects the caves we use with
the desire to keep beginning students in more durable and
impacted areas, before visiting more sensitive areas of a cave.
In certain caves we limit ourselves from ever entering pristine
or delicate areas.

The caves we use must have typical risks
encountered by cavers so we can help students develop judgment.
Judgment is "a comparative evaluation based on prior
experiences," so we do not depend on student judgment until
their experience base and proper habits are demonstrated. We are
currently trying to slowly shift to more durable caves,
specifically trying to use more active vadose caves with seasonal
flushing.

During caving courses, NOLS routinely teaches
classes on speleogenesis, karst hydrology, speleothems, cave
biology, caving hazards, first aid, cave search and rescue, cave
photography, cave conservation organizations, land management,
and surveying. In areas with vertical caves, we include
above-ground training in ascending and descending techniques
before applying these skills underground. Additional classes are
taught covering vertical self rescue techniques, Cave managers
often visit courses and talk about cave management concerns.
Managers frequently take advantage of the manpower to perform
many types of service work, including clean-up and
photo-monitoring. Important themes on any NOLS course are safety
of the individual, care of the environment, and expedition
self-sufficiency. NOLS founder Paul Petzoldt says it is criminal
to teach wilderness skills without the associated safety and
ethics; we still teach by this maxim.

NOLS students are offered a comprehensive
education in caving. Sometimes they continue caving after their
course, and involve themselves in the protection of cave
resources. After any NOLS course, we expect our students to go
home with the knowledge, skills, and habits to effectively
supervise the safety and ethics of their peers; that is what
outdoor leadership is. More importantly, our semester students go
home with the teaching strategies to others in a positive manner,
so those people might pass the ethics on again. In this manner,
the constituency for wildland conservation grows.

Introduction

As some of you know, I've started my own
science. Speleojunkesis. It's the study of junk in caves. My
particular interest is determining how junk gets into caves in
the first place, with the hope of developing methods for
preventing future junk accumulation. Speleojunkesis is not one of
those stuffy sciences. You don't even need to be a scientist to
participate. All you need is an official speleojunkesis
sample-collection bag in your cave pack. This is basically a
large plastic resealable bag with the words "Spelunk
Junk" written on it. Prototype spelunk junk bags were
distributed at the February Cleveland Grotto meeting, and
reasonable facsimiles can easily be made at home.

I have collected spelunk junk from three
caves--Bear, Sharps, and Hidden River--observed spelunk junk in
Mammoth-Onyx, and analyzed J4 spelunk junk collected by other
speleojunkesis enthusiasts. The results of the sample analysis
and some theories are presented here. It's generally seen that
different types of caves have different types of spelunk junk
which can be classified into a limited number of categories. It's
theorized that different methods of spelunk junk prevention are
needed for different types of caves.

Bear Cave, March 11, 1995

Bob Danielson was the first to embrace the
spelunk junk sample collection devices, bringing enormous
resealable plastic bags to the Bear Cave clean up sponsored by
Loyalhanna Grotto. Also available for spelunk junk collection at
Bear were wire brushes, five gallon plastic buckets, and
one-gallon plastic milk jugs donated by Bob, Terry Rooney,
Melissa Kennedy, and others, a 55-gallon drum/garbage can at the
entrance to Bear Cave maintained by Loyalhanna; and Kim Metzger's
ATV for hauling the samples down the mountain. Very little
spelunk junk was found in the cave. However, decorating the
entrance was a collection of defunct kitchen-drawer-style
flashlights, dead batteries; the remains of several bonfires;
abandoned cave clothes; and empty cave drink containers,
including those which once held fluids with varying percentages
of alcohol. The majority of the spelunk junk inside the cave was
collected from the maze walls using wire brushes and consisted of
brightly colored thin films in shapes resembling arrows, usually
with the symbol "OUT "inscribed nearby. Most of these
films fell to the cave floor when brushed or were mixed with cave
mud.

Sharps Cave, April 1, 1995

Cleveland Grotto's annual April Fool's Day
Sharps Cave trip proceeded under the arrangement made last year,
that we pick up any junk we see. Once again, Bob provided huge
spelunk junk sample-collection bags and added wooden tongue
depressors for scraping up carbide. To our delight, only a few
carbide dumps and no other spelunk junk were found in Sharps that
day.

J4 Cave, April 15, 1995

Spelunk junk consisting of inappropriate light
sources and empty food wrappers was collected in J4 by Mickey
Skowronsky and Paul Drennan and is reported in Cleve-O-Grotto
News (May 1995, vol. 41(5), p. 34). The main difference
between 14 spelunk junk and that of Bear is that the absence of
the 55-gallon garbage drum made it necessary for J4 spelunk junk
to accumulate in the only collection device found there, namely,
the cave register tube. These samples were submitted for analysis
at the May Grotto meeting.

Hidden River Cave, May 6, 1995

Several bags of spelunk junk were collected at
the Grotto's third or fourth Somewhat Annual Hidden River Work
Day. This cave has a history of foul spelunk junk from commercial
runoff, inefficient sewage treatment, and chemical spills. All
these are already documented by the EPA and considered far too
serious topics for the fledgling science of speleojunkesis at
this time. (Refer to American Cave Adventures, published
by the American Cave Conservation Association, Fall, 1994.)
Sample collection was limited to items which could be contained
in a spelunk junk bag.

After collecting a bag of spelunk junk, it was
noticed that the samples consisted of a small number of repeating
offenders. Wanting a second opinion, the first official
speleojunkesis, Melissa Kennedy, was enlisted to take time from
weed patrol and collect a bag of spelunk junk. She confirmed that
the spelunk junk contained only a few recurring items: broken
glass, cigarette filters, snack food wrappers, and plastic
straws. The most notable exception to these items was a pink
plastic water pistol found by Bob Danielson, and theorized to be
historic spelunk junk, possible used by the Kentucky Militia
during the Civil War.

Mammoth-Onyx Cave, May 7, 1995

Our clean up efforts at Hidden Cave were
rewarded with a tour of Mammoth-Onyx, the commercial show cave at
Kentucky's Down Under. Our knowledgeable guide, Chris, explained
the present management's inherited problems caused by metals
leaching from coins deposited into a formation historically
called "The Wishing Well," how these metals

killed cave microbes at the bottom of the
troglodyte food chain; and the consequent loss of sightless cave
fish, once abundant in the cave. As he described the removal of
thousands of dollars in pennies from the Wishing Well, monitoring
the slow reappearance of natural cave bacteria, and an
unsuccessful attempt to reintroduce cave fish, I observed several
dollars in new coins in a pool nearby. Throughout the tour I also
detected a considerable amount of chewing gum on the cave floor
and formations. No spelunk junk was collected at this time,
however. Chris assured us that the gum and coins are now removed
on a regular basis.

Conclusion

While in the show cave, it was noted that its
spelunk junk was of a different nature than samples previously
collected in Hidden River, Sharps or Bear. Samples were compared
and classes of spelunk junk were identified. Samples from J4
analyzed later were found to be consistent with the classes
determined using the Hidden River, Mammoth-Onyx, Sharps, and Bear
data.

Coins and gum found in Mammoth-Onyx are
classified as commercial spelunk junk. They are likely to
have been carried in by paying customers and deposited
carelessly, as with the gum, or intentionally, as with the coins.
Providing a gum receptacle and artificial wishing well at the
entrance to a commercial cave may prevent further accumulation.

As Hidden River is in the center of town and
subject to street runoff and storm drain backup, the type of
samples found there was classified as run off spelunk junk.
Since the source of these samples cannot be specified as in the
commercial cave, a broader plan to prevent this type of
accumulation needs to be implemented. Working storm drains,
adequate public garbage receptacles and pick up, and education
may curtail this type of spelunk junk. Discouraging the use of
non-reusable, non-biodegradable items, such as plastic straws,
may also help.

Spelunk junk of the type found in Bear and J4
can be referred to as "caver" generated.
Encouraging "cavers" to join grottos and participate in
safe, cave-friendly caving may eliminate these samples. Cavers
carrying spelunk junk bags, grotto-run clean ups, and grotto
maintenance trash receptacles also seem to be effective.

Carbide dumps found in Sharps fall into the
most disturbing class of spelunk junk termed caver generated.
This is not to be confused with the "caver"
generated category found in Bear and J4. A carbide dump bag
similar to the spelunk junk sample collection bags can be made
also using resealable plastic bags, but printing the words
"Spent Carbide" on it. The fine line between caver
generated and "caver" generated
classifications needs further studies.

Developer plans Spielberg-type park in world-famous Mexican
caves

Imagine the U.S. government so strapped for
cash it agreed to turn the Grand Canyon into a Disneyland-style
theme park. {Ed. Emeritus - It's not so unbelievable today,
considering some concession proposals and ideas of selling off
NPS properties.)

That's what is shaping up for the world-famous
Cacahuamilpa caverns, which a Canadian developer plans to turn
into an enormous backdrop for a high-tech Magic Mountain gone
wild--complete with exploding volcanoes and life-size robotic
dinosaurs identical to those in Jurassic Park.

Desperate for money because of its economic
crisis, Mexico in April 1995 granted industrialist Barry Sendel
the first-ever rights to build a concession in one of Mexico's
forty-four national parks. But Sendel plans more than just snack
bars for Mexico's answer to Carlsbad Caverns.

The developer who designed attractions for
Disneyland and Universal Studios plans to spend $19 million
turning the natural wonder into "The Cave of the Time."
Using holographics, state-of-the-art headphone sound and
dinosaurs made by the creators of the stars of Seven Spielberg's
"E.T." and "Jurassic Park," visitors would be
led through simulations of the Big Bang, the formation of
glaciers and seas, the origins of life, and the rise of humans.

But environmentalists won't be first in line
to see the show. "Would you do this at Yellowstone Park? At
Yosemite? This is a natural phenomenon, not Disneyland, and it
doesn't need embellishment," said Jeanne Gurnee, former
president of the National Speleological Society, the foremost
cave exploration and protection organization in North America.
"This goes against the whole idea of a national park, which
is to share its wonders of nature with the people of Mexico and
with visitors without the benefit of theatrics," added
Gurnee, author of the top guide to the continent's show caves.

Sendel has managed the caves since April 18
and has agreed to pay the Mexican government more than $500,000 a
year for fifty years. While he is still seeking approval to build
the theme park inside the two explored miles of the caves,
Mexican officials say the project could be approved by September.

The vast caverns, of which Nineteenth Century
writer Frances Calderon de la Barca said, "No being but He
who inhabits eternity could have created," are made up of
more than twenty giant rooms. The largest is more than forty-five
stories tall. Filled with gigantic stalagmites and stalactites,
the mysterious natural sculptures produced by millions of years
of trickling water, the caverns are made famous for the 1940
discovery of rare blind fish in their immense rivers. The caverns
remain largely unexplored.

Mexican authorities say they have no choice
but to allow the development in order to save the caves, which
are littered with garbage and in disrepair after years of
government neglect. There are no medical services and no security
inside the caverns. Dozens of vendors sell everything from tacos
to replicas of the caves and operate in a free-for-all
marketplace inside.

Officials say they are seeking investors for
other Mexican national parks, which extend over five percent of
the country's land, and include vast canyons, forests, coastline,
and deserts. For years the largely unpatrolled parks have run
wild with crime and marijuana fields. With the government
millions of dollars in debt since the December devaluation of the
peso, there is no money for improvements.

"I see their intentions are
healthy," sad Pedro Alvarez-Icaza, general director of
environmental regulation at Mexico's National Ecological
Institute, the government agency in charge of national parks.
'The caverns can't remain as they are; we need an alternative.
This could become a sort of vast educational space for our
children that we don't have." Alvarez-Izaca said that it is
unlikely Mexican authorities will allow the dinosaur portion of
the exhibit inside the cave, but that they have no reservations
about permitting their placement outside.

The government has few reservations about the
other effects Sendel plans, including installing fake floors and
rock bases over a portion of the cave, pumping in smoke and
water-based gas to simulate erupting volcanoes, and wiring the
cavern for light and sound.

Sendel makes no apologies for his plans. He
says he intends to restore the beauty of the caves while
attracting more visitors than ever. "Being an
environmentalist, I don't want to see the caves destroyed any
more than they have been, and they've been allowed to go downhill
for years," he said. "We're going to get them in shape
and create the Eighth Wonder of the world, something that's never
been seen before. It's the most fantastic theater for a show
about the creation of the world ever conceived."

Sendel and Creative Presentations
International, a Valencia (California) based company best known
for its development of Spielberg's most fantastic creatures, say
the development will do less harm to the fragile natural
sculpture of the caves than the harsh lights and concrete walkway
installed now for visitors by the Mexican government.

By using laser beam technology and projecting
sound effects to visitor headsets, they say damage to the caverns
from sound and light waves will be virtually eliminated.

Environmentalists say developing Cacahuamilpa
is a travesty. "The caves are a cathedral to nature. If you
change them, if you make them a backdrop for technological
wizardry, it is an assassination of the caverns themselves,"
said Romero Aridjis, a Mexican poet who heads The Group of 100,
the country's most prominent ecological organization.

(From the Daily Mail (a
Knight-Ridder Newspaper), June 28, 1995.

Source: Dead Dog Dispatch
(Tri-State Grotto), August 1995Return to Top

This paper was posted on the Cavers'
Digest, and is reprinted here with the permission of the author.
It may help cavers to see the issue of introducing Scouts to
caving in a new positive light.

Some time ago I was asked to write the
definitive work on the ever popular subject of Scouts going
caving. This short (?) treatise will be posted to four places:
alt. caving, rec. scouting, Cavers' Digest, and SCOUTS-1. I
suggest you extract it to a text file and read it off-line and
then maybe make a few copies and pass it around. Maybe this will
help lessen the friction between the two groups (Scouters and
cavers) that I'm hearing about on both fronts. This will be in
two major sections, one for Scouts and their leaders, the other
for cavers. First, a little background, and some common elements.

I started caving 23 years ago at 14 years old.
The cavers of ESSO Grotto took me under their wing, and taught me
how to cave without getting hurt, and to minimize my impact on
any cave I visited, "sacrificial" or not. In other
words, cavers taught me how to preserve caves and do it safely.
At 18, I joined a Boy Scout troop that my brothers belonged to,
mostly to take the older Scouts caving, and teach them climbing
and ropework.

I've been involved with both groups on a
local, regional, and national level ever since. I regularly take
Scout troops caving and, so far, have a perfect safety record.
Some of these Scouts have become accomplished cavers; others have
never been underground again. The next few paragraphs should help
to explain how we do it safely and why I do it the way I do.
Unless otherwise cited, the opinions herein are mine, amassed
over the previous 20-plus years of Scouting and caving.

Caving has been found to be the third fastest
growing "adventure" sport in the country. That means
the pressure on cavers to introduce people to the underground
environment will only continue to grow. This is a fact of life,
owing greatly to the exposure caving has received in recent years
in the news media (Lechuguilla's discovery, rescues of both
cavers and non-cavers, articles in magazines such as Boy's
Life featuring the caving Brown family, Outside and National
Geographic featuring Bill Stone during his Huautla
expeditions, etc.). All we as cavers can hope to do is educate,
alleviate (more later), and find cave trip leaders that know how
to take groups caving safely and responsibly. What cavers are
trying to avoid is finding 25 Scouts with little or no equipment,
several hours back in a cave with high exposures, and other
dangers, mindlessly stomping through a cave tramping down
everything is sight, while daintily plucking bats from the walls.
This is an accident waiting to happen, not to mention against the
law. What Scout leaders are trying to do is find ever more
challenging, educational, and exciting things to inject into
their program, since they compete with so many other activities
for the boy's attention.

Cave resources are limited, and threatened on
many fronts, all across the country. Laws have been enacted to
help protect the natural resource of caves, and we all need to do
everything possible to protect both the cave and its environment,
and the health and safety of the people who explore them.

For the Scouters

First, read the Guide to Safe Scouting.
It is available from your local Scout Service Center. It is the
bible that you should follow when planning trips and activities
for your Scouts. It has a specific section on caving, climbing,
and rappelling. It says:

These minimum safety requirements apply
(italics mine).

1. Cave exploring, other than simple
novice activities, should be limited to Scouts and
Explorers fourteen years of age or older. (Italics BSA's,
indicating mandatory standards).

2. Group leaders qualify through training
and experience in cave exploring and through knowing
established practices of safety, conservation, and cave
courtesy (meaning land owner relations etc. - my
addition).*

My footnote, too: Just because a father
says he went caving 20 years ago with his frat buddies
(or even a grotto), don't assume he knows about modern,
safe caving. A lot has changed in the last few years
concerning safety, equipment, techniques, conservation,
and landowner relations.

Pretty clear. Yet a lot of the Scoutmasters I
see writing, and calling, seem to think the rules don't apply to
them. The 14-year-old age limit is there for a reason. There has
to be a carrot-and-stick approach to keeping boys interested. If
they've done everything by the time they're 14, there's not much
left. That's why it is a Venture Scout pamphlet, and not a merit
badge! Also, it's very clear in Scouting literature that not
every activity is for every boy. Project COPE limits its
participants, as does Philmont and the other high adventure
bases, even National Jamborees have age limits. This age limit
also helps with another problem. The literature cited as
references talks about it: group size. Cavers try to limit the
size of any group to 12 or less, except under some exceptional
circumstances. This includes caving trip leaders and the 2-deep
leadership (that means 2 registered adults) required by
the BSA. That leaves only about 8 youth spaces. The size limit
helps to control the group, its whereabouts, and its activities.
Small groups are more easily supervised, and are generally better
behaved. Realize than an injury to a Scout only an hour from the
entrance of a cave could take 15 or more hours to effect a
rescue. Only one Scout has to get out of line for someone to get
hurt. Also, limiting group size helps the group in moving through
the cave smoothly. Except for show cave trails, few caves have
hiking grade footing throughout. Tight spots, or a tricky crawl
or climb can slow the group to a snail's pace. Too many people
means the ones in back get cold and antsy while waiting, and the
ones in front tend not to wait for them, creating a situation
where the group is split up--obviously a dangerous situation. If
you have too many14 and ups, find another way to cull out
some--use attendance, rank, dues status, or other methods to week
out those who show up only for the "fun stuff."
Limiting the group size also lessens the impact on the cave.
Studies have shown that very small air temperature changes in the
cave, caused by body heat, can adversely affect bats living
there, especially if they are hibernating. Lint, trash, and other
human debris is left in caves, no matter how small the group, but
smaller groups tend to police the cave better, leaving it in
better shape than a convoy of people on a stampede. Also consider
the older Scouts, too. In the last stampede, witnessed, the older
Scouts were clearly tired of having to push the younger, smaller
Scouts along. The younger ones were exhausted, cold, and in way
over their heads. The older ones resented having to push them
every step of the way. As a result, the group saw little more
than the entrance room and a couple of dead passages, while my
crew visited the prettiest sections of the cave, only 45 minutes
beyond where the other group was stalled.

Now, what about that "simple novice
activities"? Lots of discussion with leaders and cavers has
brought me to this conclusion: Simple novice activities are: no
exposure (danger of falling) over the height of the shortest
participant, and that exposure must be spottable. The trip should
be no more than 2-3 hours long (not enough to challenge a gung-ho
patrol of 14-year-olds, plenty enough for a bunch of 11s and
12s). Our troop sends younger Scouts to commercial show caves for
their trail tours, and since we schedule caving trips only about
every two years, after a 12-year-old goes to a commercial cave
he's generally eligible to go on the sport trip next time. Young
Scouts simply don't have the maturity to handle many of the
challenges, both physical and mental, that go along with sport
caving if you intend to go much beyond an entrance room. Our
grotto leads "kids'" trips with a ratio of 1 cave to no
more than 2 kids for the families in our grotto but we still stay
within simple novice activities. This approach would not work
well with Scouts because only three or four Scouts could go with
a 1.2 ratio of cavers to novices.

Another question I often hear: Why won't
cavers talk to me about taking my troop caving? Well, it will be
a lot easier if you read the above references first, and plan to
let them know that you will abide by their rules for going
underground. Remember, you're the one asking someone else to do you
a favor. and possibly expose him- or herself to liability by
taking your Scouts caving. No one has a "right
"to go caving. Many cavers are simply not willing to leave
themselves hanging out like that. If they have insurance, they're
a potential litigation target. If someone gets hurt, they have to
prove they weren't negligent, and if some judge or jury
doesn't understand what the case is all about, they could lose
everything they own. Sound like fun? The BSA will not help them
if they are not registered Scouters, so most cavers are on their
own with liability coverage, and most probably have no more than
their homeowner's blanket policy, if that. Another reason is that
so many Scoutmasters seem to think that they know all about
taking boys on adventure activities, even if they've never done
it themselves. Books and literature are no substitute for
experience when it comes to adventure programming. You should no
more take a group to the top of Denali without years of
experience than you should insist that someone else take your
crew underground. Realize that some cavers may not feel qualified
to lead a novice group underground. I've seen some excellent
underground group leaders, and some abysmal ones. Trust the caver
if he/she says they can't (or won't) lead and offers no further
explanation. I don't like to admit when I can't do something,
either.

Probably the biggest reason that cavers don't
respond well to requests to go caving is that they get so many.
Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, college (and high school) outdoor clubs,
parks and recreation groups--the list goes on and on. So, many
grottos have had to say, "No more outside group trips."
They're just inundated. If you were my fifth caller on a given
night, I think I'd be a little short, too.

And finally, there's the question of
equipment. Cavers have to be properly prepared to be safe
in the underground. Remember how long it takes to get an injured
person out? Where's the food and water? How about warmth and
light? A lot of cavers live on a shoestring caving budget, and
cannot afford to outfit 12 other people with helmets with
chinstraps and a light source, spare lighting for each, and all
the other things you need to be safe and comfortable underground.
Construction hard hats with string under the chin will not cut
it. $5 headlamps are OK only for the simple novice activities.
Packs need to be bigger than a wallet, and hold all the correct
stuff. It's mighty expensive if you're trying to equip a whole
crew.

If you do approach a caver, try to do it in
person. The NSS Home Page can help you find a grotto and contact
near you. Go to a grotto meeting. Meet some of the caves. Maybe
go caving with them, if you can. Stress that you want to teach
your Scouts something about caves and caving, rather than coming
off as a thrill seeker, and maybe they'll talk to you. In any
case, they're going to talk to you about it on their terms. So
accept that, and go from there. Cavers aren't necessarily
standoff-ish or cold. They just don't get approached in the right
way (I know from first-hand experience!). Don't ask to camp
underground in a cave. Your Scouts can get the full caving
experience without spending a night underground. Few cavers will
accept such a request anyway. Little camping is ever done
underground except for expedition style cave exploration where
there is no choice. The reason is cave conservation. How do you
manage human wastes, trash, and body heat warming the cave? What
about drinking water? Lots of reasons to camp in campgrounds and
cave in caves.

Now what happens, if no one will take you
caving? Well, you can keep looking, perhaps contacting another
grotto, or another caver. Or you can limit your trip to a
commercial show cave. Some of these caverns offer
"wild" trips, typically for a fee. They are usually
geared for a lowest common denominator, and can be little more
than exploring unlit commercial trails, or they can venture out
into undeveloped areas of the cave, adding in something more than
simple walking. A last resort can be cave-for-pay operations.
With cave for pay, it's a toss-up as to what you get. Few
"operators" carry liability insurance, and as
"commercial outfitters," they certainly should.
Checking credentials can be extremely hard. There is no
organization which certifies cave trip leaders. With a
profit motive, they are more likely to cut corners with equipment
and safety. They may or may not have permission to be in a cave.
Not many landowners are happy to have cave-for-pay operations
going on in their caves, and the discovery of trespassers can be
embarrassing and expensive for the operator and his charges. And,
you are not likely to get any education in caving techniques.
They also seldom limit group sizes ($$$$$), and a huge group in a
cave just isn't going to have any fun.

For the cavers

As I've said before, the requests to take
Scout groups caving are not going to go away. I do know that some
cavers simply will not, under any circumstances, take a youth
group, or even any other non-caver group, underground. In this
case, you're wasting your time reading this; it won't change your
mind, no matter what your reasons for your decision: liability
concerns, concern for the cave's well-being, lack of equipment to
loan, etc. Nor am I going to encourage groups to contact you, or
even suggest that you take them caving. What I do ask is that you
at least consider the possibility, for reasons I'll set out
later.

Not all Scoutmasters are enemies. If you read
the section intended for them, you'll see some of the reasons why
caving is such an attractive activity, and where many of them are
coming from when they contact you and ask for a caving trip. Most
all of them are looking for an activity that is both educational,
challenging, and exciting. Their motives are 99.9% pure: they're
trying to fulfill their commitment to Scouting by providing the
best possible program for young boys to grow into young men.

Some of the reasons we as cavers should
consider fulfilling at least some of the many requests to go
caving are these: 1. We are, on the whole, better educated about
caves, and therefore better able to teach the conservation and
safety aspects to novices in a convincing way. 2. We have
knowledge as to which caves can safely be visited by various
groups, and we keep up with landowner status regarding by whom,
and when their caves may be visited. 3. We have the resources
available to teach the general public about caves and cave
resources, and dispel some of the myths about caves and caving
(and bats, too). 4. We will undoubtedly have to rescue at least
some of the people we refuse (not that we should accept any and
all requests). Some bull-headed people never learn, and will try
to go on their own, without any preparation, and there's nothing
we can do about it.

Probably the best way to explain this topic is
to use our grotto's method of accommodating requests to go caving
(by any group, by the way, not just Scouts). We have had an
Education Committee for many years to handle the requests, from
initial contact, until the trip comes off. They also arrange
public transportation, and schedule our grotto display for
outdoor shows, and other public event, such as Earth Day. We are not
soliciting new cavers, we are merely educating the public about
caves and cave resources, and hoping to reel in the few that are
really interested in caving, and steer them right from the
beginning, as I was at 14 years old. Anyone who calls our office
or contacts any member of the grotto about taking a group caving
is put in touch with the Education Chairman. The Chairman
explains our policies about age and numbers limits, and a few
other minor things. They also explain that for us to take them
caving, we require an orientation by a grotto member about the
trip. Then, dates are negotiated. Then the Chairman is
responsible for finding a trip leader (from a pool of caves who
have indicated a willingness to take groups, and who, in many
cases, go out with more experienced trip leaders to learn cave
routes, and techniques for dealing with the groups). Usually, a
new leader will go on a trip as an "assistant leader"
to get used to working with crews of non-cavers.

We require an orientation meeting or two,
especially with youth groups. We have developed a scripted slide
show that any member can present to a group with only a little
preparation. It covers everything from how caves are formed,
conservation of resources and why, what formations are, biota,
and the human history of cave exploration. It takes 45 minutes to
an hour to present. Then we go over cave safety, more
conservation, and give out an equipment list. Every item is
required to be supplied by the participants: proper clothing,
extra lighting, food, water, extra light sources, and batteries.
We as a grotto supply helmets with mounted electric light
sources. We are not afraid to refuse to take someone underground
who shows up ill-prepared for the trip. Safety comes first!
This orientation usually takes about 30-45 minutes, which is why
we usually take up two Scout meetings. It also provides a
different program for the Scoutmaster for two weeks. We never
supply maps, directions to caves, or other information directly
to group leaders. If hey make a make to the cave as they drive,
there's nothing we can do about that. Hopefully, the orientation
teaches them that you must have more than just a map to the cave
to cave safely.

We limit trips to one per group per year, at
the minimum. Usually we won't take Scout troops more than once
for several years. Participants with Scout troops must be 14 or
older, and we require First Class rank. The rank
requirement weeds out slackers who don't participate in the
Scouting program except when it is "exciting." You get
a better bunch of kids this way. The troop must supply two
leaders to go underground. That way, if there is an accident, the
Scout leaders can deal with the boys and the cavers can deal with
the emergency. We take a minimum of two cavers, which is why we
occasionally stretch the group limit to 14 total--2 cavers, 2
Scout leaders, and 10 Scouts. We do not camp underground. Our
trips stress safety, conservation of cave resources, and
education about the cave. If it's exciting, too, great. Usually,
the boys are so engrossed with the formations and other pretties,
or so busy slogging through whatever fun the leader had found
now--a nice mud crawl or a belly crawl through a stream, that
they are having fun, whether they realize it or not!

Picking the proper cave can be a chore. It's a
good idea to pick something with relatively large passages that a
group can move through fairly easily. Tight crawls slow everything
to a crawl, and the guys in back get cold and anxious waiting
their turn in the barrel. The cave should not be vertical
at all. Some low exposure is OK, but avoid slippery ledges that
pitch off into a bottomless chasm. Remember, these guys don't
have the cave savvy that we cavers have to move easily over the
tough stuff. Belays really aren't much good with an inexperienced
group unless you are going to take the time to rig them properly,
and supervise the crossing of the heights. It's easy and safer to
find another route with less danger. Excitement doesn't
necessarily have to mean dangerous places where sure injury or
death can occur on a misstep. See my description of "simple
novice activities" in the Scoutmasters' section of this
paper for further guidance. Base your selection on your best
judgment of the groups' capabilities and desires.

What about liability? That's a question best
left for the lawyers, but this is what little I know about it. If
you do not accept money to take someone caving (and we do not
even solicit a "maintenance donation" for helmet use),
you're only liable in cases of negligence, i.e., where you go off
and leave the group behind, or quit supervising them, or take
them somewhere they clearly don't belong (like the edge of a 200'
drop without vertical gear or training).**

________

**Like I said, I'm not a lawyer. If you are
really concerned about this, contact a liability or personal
injury lawyer for more details. The liability lawyer will give
you the case law, The personal injury lawyer will tell you he'll
sue no matter what the merit of the case. You have to balance the
two.

__________

Of course, anyone can sue for anything, and if
little Johnny gets hurt underground on your trip, someone will
probably sue you for it. Proper safety training can go a long way
toward alleviating that risk, witness our grotto's perfect safety
record (and mine, too). You can't ignore, or duck, all risk. Just
taking a group underground is risky, and if you aren't
comfortable leading groups because of this, by all means explain
this to a Scoutmaster. If you are a registered Scout leader,
working within your training and experience, and within National
BSA safety standards, they will help defend you unless it is
clearly negligence or worse. Get yourself a copy of the Guide
to Safe Scouting from a local Scout Service Center, along
with a copy of the Venture scout pamphlet Caving, and the Scout
Fieldbook, both of which have sections on caving in them.
Also, get the NSS guidelines. You'll know the rules, and if
nothing else, you can fend off the Scoutmaster who insists on
taking the 11-year-old munchkins along with you on the trip. Our
grotto has helmet users sign a liability waiver, but no state
allows you to sign away your right to sue. The waiver basically
says that caving can be hazardous, and the participant assumes
these risks. The National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) has an
assumption of risk form. Unlike a liability waiver, it spells out
in plain English the risks associated with outdoor adventure
programs, and tells participants they must take responsibility
for their actions in the activities they engage in. They will be
happy to send you a copy if you request it. Whether a judge will
throw out a suit against a leader if the plaintiff has signed
such a form remains to be seen. So, there is a risk involved in
taking other groups caving. You can't avoid it. It is a
consideration.

If you've made up your mind that neither you
nor your grotto will take non-caving groups underground, at least
use a little tact when turning down Scoutmasters or other group
leaders. Part of the friction between the groups stems from
Scoutmasters insisting that they should be taken no matter what,
or the cavers insisting that they won't with no further
explanation. At least return the call, or send a form letter: "We
regret to inform you that we do not take outside groups caving
because blah , blah, blah." Then maybe the hostility
will not turn into an alt.caving or rec.scouting shouting match.
If you won't do it, explain why. A simple courtesy call saying,
"We're afraid of being sued" at least does not promote
the idea that we are "elitists" of some sort.

Cavers and Scouts can co-exist. As with any
outdoor adventure sport, it will continue to grow. Scoutmasters
can try to understand cavers' fears of too many people heading
underground, and cavers can try to understand a Scoutmaster's
desire to provide a vibrant, exciting program to his troop.
Working together, cavers can tap a huge reserve of
conservation-minded folks like themselves to help spread the word
about caving and the natural resources associated with caves.
Scout leaders can find a whole new adventure just waiting for his
charges to learn about and try out as a new learning experience.
Let's just douse the sparks and keep the lines of communications
open.

"Wow, look! Do you see it? It looks like
a cave. Let's go explore." This might be the conversation of
any group of kids or adults) on a hike through the woods. Our
desire, indeed our need, to explore the new and unknown drives
our sense of excitement when encountering caves. This curiosity
exists at all ages, but it is more evident in the young. A better
way to state this is to say that curiosity is restrained in
adults compared to in children for most adults, anyway). As we
age, we gain the wisdom to control our curiosity and give way to
it in more controlled situations.

As adults, and as members of the National
Speleological Society, we have a responsibility to help kids
control their curiosity but not to destroy it) in such a way that
they can enjoy the adventure of exploring the new and unknown
without endangering themselves. We must show, by good example,
the proper way to explore caves. We must teach them the safety
rules they need to know before going caving. We must help them to
use their interests in caving in a positive manner, by teaching
them to use their new skills to help with cave conservation and
other service areas of caving.

Much has already been written about kids and
caving. The various publications all deal with safety in great
detail and should be consulted before caving with kids. A
bibliography follows this article. Caving is very popular in this
area, and many youth groups have guidelines to follow.

The Boy Scout of America deals with caving in
Chapter 25 of their Fieldbook. They recommend contacting
NSS members for guidance on proper caving techniques. They then
detail requirements for clothing, gear (lights, helmets, water
and food, pack), first aid, and caving techniques, including
interpreting cave map symbols. They mention commercial "wild
cave" tours and stress the importance of obtaining landowner
permission for privately owned caves. Other sections of the book
discuss cave formation and geology.

The Girl Scouts of the United States of
America doesn't mention caving in Safety-Wise, their
publication on general safety considerations for activities and
program. This leaves it up to each Girl Scout Council to regulate
caving for their members. Our local council, Girl Scouts of North
Alabama, Inc., addresses caving on page D-7 of their reference
manual Greenbook. In it they recommend a progression from
commercial, guided tours to more advanced caving in privately
owned caves. Part of this progression involves inviting an
experienced caver to a troop meeting to discuss safe caving. They
refer troops to us (the Huntsville Grotto) for experienced
cavers. Details of proper equipment, clothing, etc. are not
covered in Greenbook, nor are special first aid
considerations. Girl Scout groups considering caving need to make
sure they consult an experienced caver before going caving.

The NSS has its own publication, Cave
Exploring by Youth Groups, which is a pamphlet covering
safety tips, equipment, conservation, and landowner relations.
This pamphlet also refers the youth leader back to any additional
requirements of their organization. Ideally, the pamphlet will be
used along with meeting with an experienced caver prior to the
caving trip. Another NSS publication, Caving Basics, does
not specifically address caving with kids, but it does mention
the responsibilities landowners must meet when they have an
"attractive nuisance" on their property. In the event a
group of kids goes caving without proper adult supervision or
permission, a landowner must be aware of his and the kids' legal
rights. For details of landowner liability, see Chapter 19 in Caving
Basics. Some books have been written for children and cover
the basics of moving safely. These include Caves and Let's
Explore Cavesand Caverns. These books do not have
enough information to use alone, but reach the kids on their own
level with some important information. It is assumed that the
type of caving trips kids will go on will be horizontal trips in
easy caves. Some of the preceding publications mention vertical
caving but stress that it should be left to very experienced, and
therefore older, cavers. These strips requiring special equipment
and training are only for youth with enough sense of
responsibility to take the risks seriously. Indeed, the vertical
class that our grotto sponsors is for ages 18 and older, due not
only to liability concerns, but to the level of maturity for
vertical work.

Should liability concerns keep us from caving
with kids? The "Huntsville Grotto Trip Policy" states
that no one under 11 be allowed on a Grotto-sponsored trip, and
that no one under 16 be allowed without a responsible adult over
21. Should we ban kids from caves? No. We should cave with kids
but let's make sure we do it right.

Before age 11 or so, commercial guided tours
(the kind with flat walkways and electric lights) are the best
for novice cavers. In some caves, this is about the only way
anyone will see any of the cave. These trips can be very
interesting, since the guides will relate the history and geology
of the cave Age 11 (or fifth grade) is a good age to start
introducing kids to the commercial "wild" cave trips.
Some good locations for these trips are Bear Rock, Cumberland
Caverns, and Mammoth Cave. They all educate the kids before
entering the cave (in addition to the preparatory work the group
did before their trip) and keep the kids' safety in the
forefront. Another popular spot with youth groups is Lost Sea
Caverns Lost Sea does not follow safety guidelines and is not
recommended for kid trips. They have you bring a flashlight
for your only source of light, and they do not provide helmets.
Their answer to that is "We tell the kids not to run or
horse around while on the cave trip so they won't hit their
head." Do not take your kids there for their wild cave trip!
[Ed-The comments in this paragraph relate to caves accessible
from Huntsville. For your area, ask a local caving group. Caving
trips to non-commercial caves should be limited to middle school
kids (7th grade and up). These kids should take an active part in
preparing for the trip, including getting permission from the
landowner. They should contact the landowner themselves and
mention the adult sponsors of their trip, and refer the landowner
to the adult for trip confirmation. The Grotto holds a
"kids" trip every so often for little kids (and
sometimes dogs), but these trips are not appropriate for youth
groups going on their first cave trips. Family and experienced
friends of Grotto members enjoy these trips.

What benefits do kids get from caving? Well,
first of all their curiosity and sense of adventure are
satisfied. They learn that they can have fun exploring while
staying safe. They learn that there are things that they can do
that not all kids can do or have the opportunity to do. Kids take
great pride in their accomplishments, and caving is something
unique that they can become skilled in. Geology, geography,
chemistry, biology, and ecology are seen in "real life"
applications. Kids will develop a sense of protection for caves
and cave formations. Concern for endangered species hits home
when they see graffiti and vandalism in these delicate
environments. Lastly, kids develop a sense of wonder at the
beauty underground. Kids are always going to show an interest in
caves. We can nurture that interest and create a future
generation of responsible cavers. Or we can misdirect that
interest by making caving something off-limits to kids, making it
something they will try to do anyway, perhaps dangerously. What
will it be?

I promised myself that if I ever became active
in caving again, I would try to avoid politics like a cat avoids
water, butt it must be in my blood because whenever I hear a
point-counterpoint discussion where certain arguments take
liberty with logic, on goes the war paint and out comes the
fightin' words. So it is with Caving for Pay. Having taken up
scouting as a second hobby while in New York, it didn't take long
for me to pick up on the feeling among cavers that Boy Scouts fit
somewhere in between Used Car Salesmen and Televangelists. They
can hardly be blamed for their feelings, given the abuse heaped
upon the caves by unsupervised youth of some or no affiliation
with scouting. Just the same, I feel compelled to rise to the
defense of scouts as well as those cavers who devote their time
and talents to take them caving, even for a price.

I'm sure everyone has heard the story about
the young man who asked a young lady if she would commit
fornication for a million dollars. After thoughtful pause, the
young miss replied that she probably would. The young man then
asked if she would perform the same deed for one dollar. Her
outraged response was, "What do you think I am?" His
response was, "We've already determined that; what we're
haggling over now is the price."

To some degree, most of us have found
ourselves in the predicament of the young lady with regard to
caving for pay. It's all right if it's fun and we do it for free
with friends, but the acceptance of any form of gratuity for our
services, or exposure of caving as thrill entertainment for the
general public would probably offend the moral sensibilities of
most of our fellow avers.

If we figure that there are about 30,000
active cavers in the U.S. population of about 250 million, that
gives us a ratio of about one caver to 8,333 non-cavers. Given
this ratio, I think that the NSS and organized caving in general
may be trying to wrestle with a Goliath of public opinion about
caves and caving. A growing population will ensure that there are
more people to find the caves and less room for cave entrances to
remain inconspicuous. So regardless of whether we take others
caving, for pay or for free, the pressure will continue to mount
upon the caves because public opinion about caves has changed
very little in the past few decades. Certainly, we have made
great strides in educating the proprietors or managers of
well-known cave properties about cave management, but the larger
issue of "public management" has gone virtually
untouched. With commercial caves touting their virtues along
every highway and popular media reports highlighting the thrill
of exploration, it's inconceivable that anyone who isn't
speleophobic would not be interested in a wild caving trip.

The Boy Scouts of America has some very
unusual ideas of what is a safe activity and what is not. Shotgun
and Rifle Shooting, Archery, Canoeing, Water Skiing, Biking,
Swimming, and Motorboating all have their individual merit badges
with required safety instruction of candidates by certified
individuals. Hang Gliding, Quad or Tri-runners, and Ultralight
Flying have all found their way into the list of forbidden
activities. Flying of private aircraft, challenge courses, basic
rock climbing, and caving are all "high adventure"
activities reserved for older boys or explorers, but without the
offering of a merit badge. (although a Venture Scout pin is
offered for completion of a "caving adventure"). Most
scout troops and a few cub packs have generally had a
"caving experience" as a unit at some time or another,
usually supervised, but some free-lance. Cavers are as varied in
their experience with scouts, with some shunning and some seeking
"troop trips" for a variety of reasons depending on
background, training, and motivation. All together, scouting
creates a great demand for individuals with caving experience to
lead trips.

As long as America is a capitalist country,
there will be an entrepreneur daring enough to find some way to
make money in a caving-related activity, if it can be made to be
profitable, and regardless of the wishes of the organized caving
community. Some do it by publishing or selling publications, some
by providing caving appliances, and some by providing training or
led expeditions. If the demand is there, so will be a supplier
for that demand, whether lawful, ethical, or otherwise. I believe
the caving community should be more concerned with how the demand
for Professional Caving is met, rather than whether or not it
should be met. I think we are already seeing the first steps to
licensing of cavers for use of state properties. The Department
of Environmental Conservation of New York State requires a
Professional Guide License for any individual leading a hunting
party or back country trip on Department property for pay. Can
licensing of professional cavers be so far-fetched if the public
safety is involved? Certainly the state licenses beauticians,
barbers, plumbers, television repairmen, and any other sill where
a minimum of competence is required.

A good case could be made for three classes of
caving licenses--Amateur, Professional Horizontal, and
Professional Vertical--based on experience, training, and tenure
in the preceding license. The question is, Who among us will make
that case? If we stand by and say nothing, hoping the problem
will go away, we will continue to see unqualified individuals
leading trips with serious consequences to the caves. If we
advocate licensing, there will surely be some who will resist
government intrusion into what they regard as the last
unregulated frontier. Certainly this is a controversial idea,
particularly in a caving community that has survived for years
and prided itself on self-policing and peer pressure. But given
the lopsided ratio of cavers to an ever-increasing and curious
public, how long can we hold on? Back in a 1973 CIG Newsletter
I predicted that the energy crisis would afford the caves some
measure of protection because it would cost too much to get to
the caves. As it turned out, there was plenty of energy available
at the right price, and some 20-odd years later the caves are as
much visited as they were back then. Even so there are pressures
building which I think will serve to limit access to caves, and
send the argument of caving for compensation to the sidelines to
witness a much larger controversy.

That controversy is liability;. The same folks
who brought you mandatory seat belts, airbags, child-restraint
seats, and smoking restricted to consenting adults in private,
think caving is a dangerous activity and are charging
accordingly. The insurance companies, like any smart businessman,
try to minimize their risk. The days when you could buy a
$100,000 term life insurance policy without telling the insurer
you were a caver are long gone. If you have an NSS number, your
actuarial tables are different than the average Joe or Jill. Even
for the Boy Scouts, coverage is skyrocketing, and costs must be
borne by chartering organizations or Scout Councils who have the
financial resources to afford the premiums. Landowners are
feeling the same pressure. it's a lot easier to deny access or
fill in the entrance than to pay higher insurance premiums if
someone gets hurt or trapped in your cave with the accompanying
publicity. All of this makes caving for pay an expensive
proposition if you mark up your guide fee sufficiently to afford
malpractice insurance. Which also asks the question "What is
caving malpractice?" but I'm saving that article for 2015.

Another pressure is the Information
Superhighway. Cyberspace may not replace Speleospace, but it will
give it a good run for its money. If you can shop, work, and play
at your keyboard, why bother go to out? Of course, here will also
be some of us who have to get dirty in a cave just to prove it
can still be done.

Cave for Pay? Considering the consequences
upon the caves of continuing to cave for free, I don't believe we
can afford not to. Licensing for professional guides may not
always guarantee a minimum degree of competence, but it is a good
place to start if cavers expect to have any future control over
who is using the caves and how well those caves are being
treated. Slowly but surely, cavers are losing ground in the
battle of public opinion. Bad things happen to caves because the
public has little, if any, compassion for a hole in the ground
and the critters who live there. We have tried to walk the fence
by educating the public while not revealing cave locations and
have failed. The result is a public that is increasingly aware of
the caves strictly as a recreational resource for the more
daring, and who will not wait for the organized caving community
to show them where they are located. They are finding them quite
nicely on their own, thank you, with repercussions that will
eventually affect us all.

I would like to open up a familiar old topic
and try to get some new perspectives from the membership. Do you
think that caving and cave locations should be a guarded secret
or do you believe that caving is something that should be
promoted or exposed for all to enjoy? Tough call.

If it wasn't for some kind of publicity (Exploring
American Caves in my case) many of us might not have
discovered caving. The pursuit of this interest was not easy at
first. It was tough finding any information on caves and cavers.
This difficult process might have served to weed out people who
just had a passing interest. The information available was
scarce, but what was available was absorbed, thus educating the
potential caver to the responsibilities to conservation.

On the other hand, I'm sure there are many of
us who discovered caving through some form of promotional type of
activity (Scouts, Explorers, Conservation Groups). Many of my
friends got turned on to caving this way. If there was too much
secrecy, I gather many of these people would never have gotten
turned on to caving. I don't pretend to have an answer for this
great debate. I do, though, have an opinion. I feel as though I
have been extremely lucky to have happened upon caving in the
latter part of the Twentieth Century. This will be known as the
best time in history for this interest. I believe it is
inevitable that caves will be closed, lawsuits will close many of
them; pollution will close many more; and poor land-owner
relations will close most of the rest. The caves that will be
left will have heavy traffic. Cavers will take to caving at night
so the traffic will be low, thus adding to the landowner
concerns. Caving as we know it will be something we talk about,
like the fisherman do of the fish that used to be or the hunters
do of the animals that used to roam the land. I believe that will
happen and there is nothing we can do to prevent it. The only
thing we can hope to do is delay it. Maybe it is possible to
prevent it long enough for our children to experience caving.
Already there is so much that I have seen that they will never
get to see.

So, if I had to vote on this topic, I would
vote for secrecy. The mere presence of cavers in a cave pollutes
it. We bring in trash' we track mud all over formations. Many of
the passages we travel were once rimstone dams that have been
filled with so much mud that people never notice they are walking
on formations. We bring microscopic organisms in on our clothes.
What these do to the micro fauna and the beginning of the food
chain no one knows. Even the most conscientious of cavers has an
experience where he or she has damaged or left something in a
cave. So, to cave is to accept a certain amount of damage for the
sake of one's own interests. So in our own self interest. Let's
at least try to minimize the damage by keeping our activities off
the front page. If caving can be left to people who have been
influenced and educated by a discerning caving community, then
maybe there'll be something left for our grandchildren to
explore.

If you are not already a member of the HumanScience Section of the National Speleological Society, you
are invited to join. Dues are $5.00 a year, payable to the NSS
Human Science Section. Members receive the newsletter
periodically, and have the right to vote at the Annual Meeting,
held at the NSS Convention each year.